I thought I would share with you today a set of guidelines produced by the National Council for Hypnotherapy (NCH) on their website and interspersed with comments in relation to my old school, highlighted in italics

When choosing to train as a hypnotherapist, we are well aware that you have many choices and that it can be very confusing and difficult to determine which course would suit you best. To help, we have listed some factors that you may like to look for when searching the internet or looking through prospectuses.

Does the course equip you to practice?
Some schools divide their courses into, for example, foundation, certificate and diploma. Others may be highly theoretical with little practical application. Ensure that, if you wish to go into practice, that you will be able to do so.

The Hypnotherapy Practitioner Diploma run here ensures you are able to and we can show you many, many hypnotherapists who have trained with this school who are currently practicing effectively.

How much support do the course tutors offer you?
All NCH accredited schools have at least two tutors, and even though you may have one primary tutor, there should always be someone else that you can go to with questions or comments. Support in between training days is important too. Is this offered? What about continuing support when you have completed the course?

Here, as well as the tutors and additional class assistants during training modules, you also get a years supervision after the course has completed, you get full access to our online members area with its hundreds of articles, hundreds of audio clips and video support materials. It also has a forum to discuss matter with your peers, fellow students and course tutors.

What are the qualifications of the course tutors?
These will vary, but it is worth checking out their original training, how much continuing development they undertake and any other relevant qualifications they may have (for example in training or assessing). Also, how experienced are they as hypnotherapists?

I (Adam Eason) have been in professional practice, earning my living solely as a hypnotherapist since 1998 and have certified membership of the Hypnotherapy Association dated from that time. As well as having the HPD, I also have two further diplomas in Clinical Hypnotherapy, a nationally recognised diploma in Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy, NLP Practitioner, Master Practitioner and trainer qualifications, without mentioning the several masterclasses within these fields and additional seminars I have attended every year since I first qualified.

Sophie Nicholls, in addition to her Masters,and Doctorate, has a wide array of similar qualification and has been in professional practice since 2006.

All the class assistants have trained with my school and are in current clinical practice as a hypnotherapist. We can give further details if required.
While there is no regulation of the profession of hypnotherapy in the UK, there are National Occupational Standards. Does the course you are looking at adhere to these standards, and can the school demonstrate this?

What external validation is there for the course? Most hypnotherapy training is run through private schools, some of which have their own professional body and so, in effect, accredit themselves. Some however, are truly externally validated not only by independent professional bodies but also by an awarding body.

Awarding bodies are given this designation by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority in England, the Qualifications, Curriculum and Assessment Authority in Wales, the Scottish Qualifications Authority or the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment in Northern Ireland.

Students attending the Adam Eason school of therapeutic hypnosis HPD qualification are assessed initially the NCH, as well as the NCFE who are an external awarding body.

Do the course tutors see real clients?
Some trainers start a school because they can’t make it as practitioners. Current practice is a very important element of the teaching process.

We believe it is vitally important that you see demonstrations of techniques and also get to practice. This gives you the confidence to practice with “real people” as soon as you qualify. Not all trainers demonstrate, and not all give you a chance to practice and build your confidence.

We are all in practice as hypnotherapists.

The UK Confederation of Hypnotherapy Organisations insists that schools train to minimum standards of 120 hours face to face and 450 hours of total study time. Does the course you are considering meet this criterion?

With our diploma, you get 165 clss hours and will need to complete a further 350 hours of home study, meeting and excelling these minimum standards.

It is important that you are able to see a full syllabus before you start the course and that this has sufficient depth to enable you to start in full practice as soon as you qualify.

Does the course include business and practice management?
This is important as you could qualify as a wonderful hypnotherapist, but if you don’t have the skills to attract clients, you will not succeed in practice.

An inherent part of this course is the business model I provide. I show you everything I did and everything I still do to run a successful business. You get a full audio programme on the subject, particularly designed for hypnotherapists starting in practice and additional materials. We are incredibly thorough in ensuring that if you want to do this for a living, we do everything we can to ensure you do that.

Which professional body’s code of ethics, if any, does the school teach? They should also subscribe to a code of ethics for training itself.

We adhere to the NCH code of ethics which can be found here.

Does the course entitle you to membership of a professional body? According to the Prince’s Foundation for Integrated Health, professional bodies should:

* produce high quality, clear information for the public on its registrants and what they offer
* have registration requirements that include providing evidence of competence to practise
* require registrants to be insured to practise the therapy
* require or provide opportunities for continuing professional development
* have a code of conduct and practice
* have disciplinary and complaints procedures
* involve its members in decision-making
* publish its annual accounts

Check these things out.

All our students are shown and given access to all the above.
This diploma enables you to have membership of the NCH and/or the Hypnotherapy Association and/or the General Hypnotherapy Register as well as the Society of NLP. We are also accredited with associations in the US, Canada and Australia if you should ever wish to work in those countries using this qualification.

For a full downloadable course prospectus and application form, along with more information on our monthly Hypnotherapy Training Diploma, click here. or for our Intensive Hypnotherapy Diploma, click here. Feel free to get in touch with regards to any of the notes mentioned here today.